Homemade French Dressing

It's been salad week at The Good Household. I've been a tad overwhelmed with planning for The Good Baby's first birthday, work and all the other tasks that seem to pile up, so I was more than happy to have an excuse to be lazy in the kitchen.

The Good Husband likes "manly" salads. That means salad with meat, basically. More specifically, a salad of romaine, carrots, tomato, cucumber, sometimes cheese but always sliced steak. His favorite dressing is French, which is good since I don't like it. We don't fight over the last drop out of the bottle.


Amazingly The Good Grandma had two recipes for French Dressing. This is from her Great Aunt and I now share it with you.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup oil (I used canola)
1/2 sugar
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 tablespoon onion powder
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
~ Combine all the ingredients in a clean mason jar and shake the shit out of it until combined.

recipe by: A distant relative to The Good Husband

Roast Beef Panini

This is dinner for one of those nights where all you really have is the energy to make is a pb&j. Since a panini is the grown up version of a sandwich, you don't have to feel guilty for making such an easy dinner.

I like to serve seasoned oven fries with this and a side salad and call it a day.

Also, don't let some fancy cooking magazine tell you you need a sandwich press. You don't. You can save kitchen space and money and use a grill pan and a grill press and you will be fine. Or you can use a grill pan and a smaller pan to smoosh down the sandwich. Add a can of something - corn, green beans, tomatoes - to weight the pan.

But if you are just dying to spend $60, you can always just send the money my way.


Ingredients:
2 slices of french bread
Canola oil
Roast beef
Cheddar cheese
Horseradish Mayo (mayo with horseradish to taste)
Sliced red onion

Directions:
~Heat a grill pan over medium high heat.

~Brush one side of the slice of bread with canola oil. Spread the mayo on the opposite side of the bread. Place the oiled side down in the grill pan. Layer cheese, onion and meat on the bread.

~ Brush one side of the slice of bread with canola oil. Spread the mayo on the opposite side of the bread. Place the bread, mayo side down on the sandwich in the pan and using either a grill press or a small pan, toast the sandwich until golden brown, about 5 minutes each side, turning once.

~Serve immediately.

recipe by: The Good Wife

How to stock a pantry

Having a well stocked pantry is an important factor in meal planning. Most of the time all you need to complete a meal is a protein and veggies. Below is a list of common ingredients that should fill your pantry so you can make a meal with ease. When there is an ingredient listed, such as rice, what follows are suggestions on different types and the kinds I use the most.

~ Anchovy paste

~ Baking chocolate squares – all-purpose, unsweetened, bittersweet, german, white

~ Baking mixes – pancake, bread, cornbread

~ Baking powder

~ Baking soda

~ BBQ sauce

~ Bread – white, whole wheat, pita, tortilla; corn and flour

~ Breadcrumbs – plain, seasoned, panko

~ Canned tomatoes - whole, diced, crushed, stewed, paste

~ Canned meat – tuna, chicken, salmon

~ Canned milk – sweetened condensed, evaporated

~ Chocolate and other baking chips – milk, semisweet, dark, white, butterscotch, peanut butter

~ Cocoa powder

~ Corn meal

~ Corn starch

~ Corn syrup

~ Cream of Wheat

~ Dried and canned beans – pinto, black, navy, great northern, garbanzo, kidney; light and dark

~ Dried mushrooms – porcini, oyster, button, crimini, shiitake

~ Flour – all purpose, whole wheat, bread, pastry, cake

~ Gelatin – instant, unflavored

~ Honey

~ Instant coffee powder – coffee, espresso

~ Jam/jelly – grape, strawberry, boysenberry

~ Ketchup

~ Maple syrup

~ Molasses

~ Mustard – yellow, whole grain, Dijon

~ Nuts – pine, walnut, peanut, pecan, almond

~ Oats – quick cooking, old fashion rolled

~ Oil – extra virgin olive, canola, vegetable, sesame

~ Pasta; noodles – spaghetti, angel hair, fettuccini, linguini, lasagna, cellophane

~ Pasta; shaped – orzo, penne, shells; small and large, rotini

~ Peanut butter – crunchy, smooth, natural

~ Polenta – quick cooking, traditional

~ Rice – long gain white, brown, jasmine, Arborio, basmati

~ Salt – table, kosher

~ Shortening

~ Soy sauce

~ Stock – beef, chicken, vegetable, seafood

~ Sugar – white, super fine, brown; light and dark, powdered

~ Sun-dried tomatoes

~ Vinegar – white distilled, apple cider, white wine, rice wine, champagne, balsamic

Up next - how to stock a spice rack

Ice cream and cake! Ice cream and cake!

Ok, not really but it is birthday cake flavored ice cream.

True story - On our honeymoon in Hawaii, The Good Husband and I had a fabulous dinner at our hotel. I had the seared salmon, TGH had the seafood lasagna, quite a stretch for him at the time. I was proud, in love, happy and full. We then went on a stroll on the beach and window shopping.

Then TGH spotted a famous, but not available near us, ice cream place. He ordered a large ice cream and I was so sad that I was so full from dinner I couldn't have ice cream.

Years pass. I hear about how awesome the ice cream place is and I curse my stomach from being full on my honeymoon and not allowing me the seemingly only chance I would have to eat such a wonderful dessert. But a miracle occurred.

The popular ice cream place came to our area. I was able to finally try it. I had the birthday cake batter ice cream since that was the flavor I had heard the most raves about. All the praise was well earned. So it was no wonder that this was one of the first flavors I made with my ice cream maker.

This was also the first ice cream I made that called for eggs. I don't know if it was because the fat content was higher in this but the ice cream mix froze in no time in my machine. I think it froze hard enough to stop the machine (if you have the ice cream attachment for the KA Stand Mixer, you know what I am talking about) within ten minutes. It also froze to rock solid in the freezer.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup yellow cake mix
½ cup sugar
Pinch of salt
3 egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups milk

Directions:
Over medium heat, bring 1 cup of heavy cream, sugar, salt, and cake mix to a simmer. Separately, beat the egg yolks lightly in a medium sized bowl. Add a 1/4 cup of the simmered cream mixture to the egg yolks and mix. This is to temper the eggs and prevent them from curdling when added to the whole mixture. Add a bit more and mix, then add the entire egg mixture to the simmered cream. Stir with a whisk until the mixture forms a thin custard, about 5 to 10 minutes (or it reaches about 175 on a thermometer). Take off heat and add the remaining milk and heavy cream. Stir, then chill in the fridge.

Once the mixture is completely chilled, add the milk and stir in. Add the mixture to your ice cream machine and chill accordingly.

recipe by: The Tasty Kitchen

Trip to the Farmer's Market #2

I haven't yet made it to the weekend market so this is what I was able to get at the night time market. It is still too dark to take photos at the actual location but I did capture what I purchased.

A few pounds of red 'taters
1 bag of black walnuts
1 bunch carrots
1 package homemade English muffins
1 pint of strawberries
A few tomatoes
1 mini vanilla bean bunt cake
Organic mozzarella

I also picked up a pack of homemade basil champagne fettuccine but forgot to put it in the picture. Oops.

For dinner, The Good Baby and I had a tomato and mozzarella salad and bunt cake and strawberries for dessert.

I made some herbed 'taters for The Good Husband to eat with his lamb chops.

I plan on making some black walnut ice cream soon, since it is one of TGH's favorite flavors.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

We have a winner!Congratulations to edmontonjb. You will win a $40 gift certificate to CSN stores.

Thanks to everyone that entered, tweeted, followed and liked. Thanks!

First Ever Giveaway!

I'm pleased to announce my first ever giveaway! One of you will win a $40 gift certificate from CSN stores.

CSN stores have over 200 stores that will help you find the perfect track lighting, the sweetest modern furniture and, of course, the best cookware. You may recall I did a product review of the Kinetic Go Green Glasslock Assorted 8-Piece Food Storage Container Set I received from CSN stores. But instead of being a greedy whore this time, I'm giving you the freebies! The container set is still awesome but just a tad more than $40, so if you want it, you might have to pay the difference.

But there are over 200+ CSN stores, so you can buy almost anything.

How to score the gift card
Leave me a separate comment for each entry to be counted. This is mandatory. Head over to CSN Stores and tell me in which store you will spend your gift card. Include your email address somewhere in your comment.

Score more entries
~Become a follower of the blog and post telling me who you are

~Follow me on Twitter and tweet this. Tweet, "First Giveaway from @thegoodwifeblog & @csnstores http://tinyurl.com/5vjgwb #giveaway". Leave a comment with a link to your status.

~Like me on Facebook, The Good Wife Blog, or like CSN Stores. Leave me a comment telling me you did.

~Post about this giveaway on your blog or elsewhere. Leave a comment with a link.

Good Luck!

Please note: There may be shipping charges or in the case of Canadian readers, international fees, for certain products. Giveaway ends June 1st at midnight. I'll use random.org to pick a winner and I will email the winner. If I do not hear back within 48 hours a new winner will be picked. I will then give CSN Stores the email address of the winner and he or she will be contacted by CSN Stores and receive the gift certificate. If I do not have an email address for you, you cannot win.

Disclaimer: I was not compensated in any way for this giveaway.

Birthday Dinner

The Good Husband's birthday was yesterday and I try to make his day special by making all his favorite foods. For breakfast he had eggs and 'taters. We then went to a local craft festival and had a small lunch of fresh fruit, sun tea and donuts.

It was hot as hell yesterday. Summer has officially hit central Illinois. It is supposed to remain in the 90s this week with something like 80% humidity. How wonderful.

So this means that I will shun the oven for favor of cooking things on the stove and the grill since we don't turn our A/C on until at least the end of June. TGH wanted steak for dinner so I cranked up the crappy grill pan I have and slaved away.

You can always tell when I cam cooking either steak or on the grill pan since I set the smoke alarms off every.single.time. The Good Baby is used to the screeching by now. It's the one way she knows dinner is ready.

So we had a great grilled dinner of local, grass-fed, organic steak topped with blue cheese from the Farmer's Market, grilled asparagus and organic polenta with purple spring onions and blue cheese. Yeah, I went a little crazy with the blue cheese, but damn, if that stuff isn't moldy heaven.

To grill asparagus:
Trim and wash asparagus. Heat a grill pan on medium high heat until hot. Place asparagus on the grill and drizzle with oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill for a few minutes on each side, turning often.

To make polenta:
Ingredients:
4 cups water
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup corn meal
1 green onion, chopped
blue cheese crumbles

Directions:
~Bring the water to a boil and add butter. Stir until dissolved.

~Slowly whisk in the corn meal, breaking up any lumps that might form with the whisk. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer, switching to a wooden spoon to stir frequently. Cook polenta on low for 30-40 or until thicken and the sides pull away from the pan. Add the onion and blue cheese to taste. Serve immediately.

NOTE: I didn't stir in the blue cheese, since I had to leave some sans cheese for TGB. I should have dished her plate first and then stirred the cheese in but I didn't think about it. Oh well.

Farmer's Market Salad

I told you here, that I scored strawberries, spring purple onion, blue cheese and mesclun mix at the Farmer's Market the other day. I pondered what I would make for dinner with everything and on the way home wished I had walnuts to make a yummy salad. But lo and behold, I had a package hidden in the back of the fridge. Score!

A blue cheese and walnut salad with seasonal fruit is a favorite of mine. Now normally a blue cheese and walnut salad is good on its own. Add fresh strawberries and the dish only gets better. But what made this dish great was the blue cheese. F**k me softly with a chainsaw, if it wasn't the best blue cheese I have had in a long time. It was amazing and I hope they have it next week.

It was such a nice simple dinner and a great way to kick off the Farmer's Market season.


Ingredients:
5-6 strawberries, sliced
1 spring onion, sliced
1/4 cup walnut halves
4 oz blue cheese crumbled
1 handful mesclun mix
The juice of one lemon
A hearty drizzle of olive oil

Directions:
~Combine the first five ingredients and toss to combine.

~Dress salad with lemon juice and drizzle with olive oil.

recipe by: The Good Wife